As far as I have seen and experienced, travellers usually do not have much idea what to eat in the countries that they visit. Despite all resistance, global brands like Burger King, KFC, etc. are visited in case of finding nothing local at first. I wanted to make a short introduction for Turkey visitors what they can find as a first try of local 'junk' food. I have no idea if you would like it or not, but everytime I visit home, I start with this dirty junk food package and love it !

So, let's say, you just landed in Istanbul and hanging around with your map on the street. When you feel hungry and want to try something 'turkish', here is the start package. If you can survive after that you can jump to more advanced food packages :)

• çiğköfte : it's a raw meat dish - uncooked köfte (also can be made without meat because of health safety restrictions) that is a typical appetizer, orginally coming from the city 'Urfa'. Quite spicy and eaten with lemon and lettuce. You can find it in many 'kebap' restaurants and also you can find many çiğköfte shops itself. [photo source : wikipedia]

• midye : mussles. nothing so traditional, but just the way they do it in turkey differ from other countries. filled with rice and spices, better eaten with lemon. You can find many 'midye' sellers out there, but try to find the ones with a little queue in front of it. And there's a unnecessary detail, mussles are one of the few creatures that have periods :)

• kokoreç : this is one of the many other dishes that we have in common with greeks. I do not want to explain what is inside this, if you are really curious, go and search for it. that is another full spicy food, by the way. I highly recommend you to eat, you will not regret. There are many kokoreç sellers on the street, but try to find some branded shops, which will be much more secure :)

• kumpir : a baked potato with various of fillings inside, olives, salami, cheese, corn, sausage slices, carrots, mushrooms, russian salad, pickles and spices with full of ketchup and mayonnaise. The town 'Ortakoy' is a recommended place to try this food and I assure you will be full after one dish.

• balık ekmek : directly go to 'eminönü', down to the seaside and buy one from those fish boats. a cold beer can be complementary.

• nohut pilav : do not go to any shops but try these badgers or truckers on the back streets. It's damn delicious, adding some chicken pieces is optional. usually great after a hangover :)